Chinese New Year is around the corner, and many homes are filling up with a variety of Chinese New Year tidbits. Our home has several bottles of pineapple tarts, butter cookies and the like, and we have already been sneaking bites of them.

I owe everyone a review that I said I will do, a long time ago, in this post.

Just as a quick recap, we were having a problem with cockroaches in our kitchen, and I was hoping that this product will help. As it turns out, soon after I wrote that post, we also had a seasonal run of mosquitoes that appeared in our home every evening.

As you can imagine, I wanted more than ever for the KONK to work, and had hurriedly set the product up. Two weeks later, we were still facing a cockroach problem, and the mozzies were attacking me every night. I was frustrated, and wondered why the product did not work for me, when it had for so many others, including people I personally know. At one point, Roboman told me straight that the product did not work, and went out to buy one of those mosquito killer bats that look like small racquets. (For someone with poor hand-eye coordination like me, using those things in the tiredness of nightfall was not fun!)

Finally, after being bitten for the umpteenth time and having our cleaning lady freak out at a cockroach scuttling across our kitchen stove, I sat down to open the KONK machine up. What I saw made me lie belly up laughing, before feeling very, very embarrassed - the brand new battery inside was still wrapped in its plastic casing! Don't ask me how I did not notice it. Me, instruction manuals and gadgets have never been best friends! I gingerly removed the plastic, and set up the machine again. What happened after that was almost magical. The cockroaches disappeared really quickly, in a matter of 2 days or so, and the mozzies stopped attacking me as long as the trusty KONK was in the room I was in. The product works, and works very well indeed.As a testimony, I personally bought another 2 more sets to use, and will be bringing one along with me for our trips up to KL, where I tend to be attractive new blood to the mosquitoes at my in-laws' home. And so, what does this all got to do with Chinese New Year cookies?Well, Cookies = Crumbs = AntsHowever, with our KONK machine buzzing over crumbed areas, ants have been scuttling away. I am very pleased. But I promise you that I do try to sweep up crumbs. I do. Munch, Crunch, Burp.Thank you, KONK® I for being so awesome, and My Lifestyle Shop for introducing it to me!

Life in the past few weeks was tumultuous, and it sucked words right out of me.

My mother was taken very ill suddenly, and it was a blurred 1.5 months where the smells of hospital lingered in my nostrils. There was a lot of waiting, worry and earnest praying. Thoughts about mortality, both my own and of my loved ones, were constant. It was frightening to witness a perfectly able person lose ability to function within a span of a few days.

Christmas and New Year were spent with family, but our hearts were heavy, and shrouded with a quiet solemness. It took weeks of various tests for the doctors to finally pinpoint with some certainty about my mother's illness. It turns out that she has been struck by a very rare disease, and treatment options were made academically.

Thankfully, soon after specialized treatment, my mother finally took a turn for the better. She is now on the road to recovery. A long road, but nevertheless a positive one. The relief was immense.

Then, something must have snapped in me because I was struck down with the dreaded HMFD. I was so blessed that an angel in the form of my sister-in-law came to stay with us. She was here with the intention of freeing me up to be with my parents. Unfortunately, we ended up staying home, with my sister-in-law helping to regularly disinfect my home, and to care for my children. I stayed masked, gloved and socked throughout my illness, afraid of spreading the disease.

I want to give thanks for all who prayed alongside us during the past dark weeks. We received many texts, emails, cards and even thoughtful gifts sent to the home. We had friends who delivered food, and those who sat with us through the critical meetings with my mother's doctors. I was not able to respond to every kind gesture, but each one meant a lot to me, and were little hands that lifted my spirit. Thank YOU.

Here's to a 2014 that will be a continual commitment to live with intention, so that the important things in life get their right of place. Happy New Year!

Hello, I'm Corsage. I am a woman, a wife and a mother (of two) living in Singapore. You can read more about me here. I enjoy interacting with readers and am glad that you came by. Welcome to this space!